Memorandum and indicating device.



Patented May 27, I902. C. D. WEAVER.

MEMORANDUM AND INDICATING DEVICE.

(Application filed Mar. 14, 1901.)

(No Model.)

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WITNESSES.

I N VE N TUB. 'CbarIesDWarer,

ATTORNEY.

c. n. WEAVER.

MEMORANDUM AND INDIGATING DEVICE.

Patented May 27, I902.

(Application filed Mar. 14, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

INVENTOR. CizaflesDWaYer,

WITNESSES. 7%4 H- TTORNEY.

UNTTn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES D. TVEAVER, OF MOPHERSON, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MCPHER= SON OFFICE NOVELTY COMPANY, OF MCPHERSON, KANSAS.

MEMORANDUM AND IND ICATING DEVIC E.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,236, dated May 27, 1902.

Application filed March 14, 1901. Serial No. 51,099. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES D. WEAVER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at McPherson, in the county of Mo- Pherson and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Memorandum and Indicating Devices; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and ex act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in memorandum and indicating devices of the class set forth in United States Letters Patent issued to me April 3, 1900, No. 646,933.

The device is for use by physicians and others who are obliged to leave their offices Without an attendant. The caller by pulling down the lid or cover of a cabinet according to instructions thereon exposesa strip of paper drawn over a plate or tabletforming a suitable backing for the paper. He writes his message on this strip and closes the lid by a sliding movement, operating mechanism which causes the portion of the strip upon which the message is written to pass over into the cabinet, where it is concealed, and exposes a blank portion of the strip upon the tablet, ready for the next caller, who cannot gain access to the previous message. The opening of the lid operates an indicator exposed through a glass-covered opening in the front of the case. This indicator informs the physician or other person upon his return that the device has been used during his absence. He then opens the cabinet by unlocking a door attached to the front thereof and tears ofi the portion of the strip upon which the message is written.

The invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved device with the lid closed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front view with the lid down or open. Fig. 4 is a rear view with the back of the cabinet removed. Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line a: 00, Fig. 4, looking toward the left and showing the'lid closed. Fig. 6 is a similar View showing the lid open. Fig.

.7 is a fragmentary section taken on the line y y, Fig. 4.

The same reference characters indicate the same pa'rts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the cabinet or case, composed of the back 5, the sides 5, the vertical front part 5, and the upper in clined part 5 Between the parts 5? and 5 is formed an opening 6, (see Fig. 6,) which is normally closed by a slidable lid 7, whose edges are provided with metal tongues 7*,

which engage grooves formed in the sides of the case.

Within the cabinet are located detachable side plates 8, in which are journaled the message-strip supply-roll and the'feed-rolls 10 and 12. 7 Secured to the plates 8 underneath the lid 7 is a plate or tablet 13, over which the message-strip 14 is drawn from the supply-roll 9 by rollers 10 and 12. On the journal of the roller 10, which will be termed the main strip-operatingroller,3 outside of the side plate 8 and between the side plate and the side of the case, is loosely mounted a gearwheel 15,'carr ving a spring-helddog 16, engaging a ratchet-wheel 17, made fast to the journal of the roller 10. Onthe opposite j ournal of this roller is made fast a ratchet-wheel 18, engaged by a pawl 19, mounted on a stationary support. The function of this ratchet and pawl is to preventroller 10 from turning in the direction indicated by the arrow, Fig. 6, when the lid is being opened, while the function of the ratchet on the opposite journal, in conjunction with the dog on the gear 15, is to turn the roller in the direction opposite that in dicated by the arrow duringthe operation of closing the lid. The roller 12 is located above the roller 10 and is journaled in eyes formed in rods 20, which are slidably mounted in angle-plates 22, secured to the upper extremities of the side plates 8. Each of these rods is surrounded by a coil-spring 21, whose up per extremity bears against the plate 22, while its lower extremity engages a stop 23 on the rod. This spring is normally under sufficient tension to cause the roller 12 to cooperate with the roller 10 by pressing against the message-strip when passed between the rollers, (see Fig. 7,) whereby as the roller 10 is turned the said strip is made to travel between I the rollers, and thereby drawn from the supply-roll 9. To one of the tongues 7'" of the lid 7 is attached a cogged rack 24, which projects above the lid and engages a gear 15 and a gear 25. A third gear 26 is interposed between the gears 15 and and meshes with both. The gear 26 is provided with a pin or projection 26, which engages the upper extremity of a springsupported rod 27 and presses the same downwardly against a crank 28 of a spindle 28, whose opposite extremity is provided with a pointer 29, exposed to View through a. glasscovered opening 5, formed in the front part 5 of the case. The gears 25 and 26 are journaled in one of the metal side plates 8. The gear 25 is employed because the rack 24 is not of sufficient length to remain in engage- 7 ment' with the gear 15 long enough to give the roller 10 the desired movement. The rod 27 is provided with slots 27, through which are passed suitable fastening devices 27, which are also made fast to a side plate 8. The rod is arranged to slide on these fastening devices. The upper extremity of the rod is provided with a projection27 extending at right angles to the body of the rod. This part protrudes into the path of the rod-actuating pin 26. The rod is normally supported in the raised position by the crank 28" of the spindle 28. The lower extremity of the rod has a right-angled projection 27 which rests on the crank of the'spindle. This crank is supported tohold the rod in the raised position, and the pointer in the position shown in Fig. 1 by a leaf-spring 30.

From the foregoing description the operation of my improved device will be readily understood. The device is secured ina suitable manner to some conveniently-located stationary support, the lid being closed, as

shown in Fig. 1, and having instructions printed thereon, as shown in said figure. The pointer 29 will now be in the position shown in Fig. 1, and the operating parts of the mechanism in the position best illustrated in Fig. 5. The person wishing to leave a message then grasps the knob A of the lid 7 and pulls the latter down to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 6. During this operation the rack 24 engages the gears 15 and 25 and operates the wheel 26, causing the pin 26 to engage the upper extremity of the rod 27, whereby the latter is forced downwardly against the crank 28, which engages a spring B, attached to the back of the cabinet, and forces said spring rearwardly until the crank passes below the spring,when the latter moves inwardly and locks the crank in the position shown in Fig. 6. During this operation the spindle has been turned sufiiciently to throw the pointer 29 to the position shown in Fig. 3, in which position the pointer and its spindle are held by. the spring B until the cabinet is unlocked and'opened by the owner, as hereinafter explained. As the lid is pulled down the gear 15 moves idly on the journal of the roller 10, the dog 16 passing over the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 17. The roll 10 is locked from turning during this operation by the engagement of the dog 19 with the ratchet 18, which is fast on the roller-spindle, as heretofore explained.

It is assumed that before leaving the cabinet for the use of callers the owner has drawn the message-strip 14 from the roll 9 and passed it between the rollers 10 and 12, as shown at Fig. 7. After writing his message (see Fig. 3) the lid is moved upwardly to the closed position and the roller 10 operated by the engagement of the rack 24 with the gears 25 and 15, whereby the portion of the strip 14 containing the message is carried over the roller and concealed in the rear portion of the cabinet, (see Fig. 4,) while the blank part of the strip is drawn over the plate or tablet 13 ready for the next caller.

Underneath the lid a pencil C is placed on a suitable support D, held by the side plates 8, for the use of those wanting to leave a message.

As soon as the owner of the cabinet returns and glances at the pointer 29 he knows Whether the cabinet has been used during his absence. If the pointer is in the position shown in Fig. 3, he unlocks the cabinet and tears off the message portion of the strip. As the cabinet is opened the spindle is released from the spring B, and the pointer is returned to itsnormal position (shown in Fig. 1) by the action of the spring 30.

Attention is called to the fact that as the lid 7 is raised and the gear 26 rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figs. 5 and 6 the pin 26 engages the projection 27 of the rod 27 and raises the latter until the projection of the gear passes beyond the rod, when the latter drops to its normal position. Hence after the cabinet has been opened once it may be opened any number of times without interfering with the indicating device, which remains in the operated position until the cabinet has been opened and the spindle released from the locking influence of the spring 13, as heretofore explained. It will thus'be seen that the message-strip-operating rolls are operated during the upward or closing movement of the lid 7, While the indicating mechanism is operated during the first downward or opening movement of the lid.

The mechanism mounted in the lower part of the cabinet and shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5 and partly by full lines in Fig. 4 is protected by Letters Patent No. 658,744, issued to me September 25, 1900, and therefore need not be herein described. Its object is to indicate to the caller the whereabouts of the owner of the cabinet and when he will return.

The front and sides of the cabinet are connected together and hinged to the back, as shown at 35. A key is inserted at 36 in the part 5 to unlock the cabinet. hen this is done, the entire front and sides, connected" as aforesaid, drop downwardly, giving the owner access to the message. The top part of the cabinet is secured to the back.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. Ina memorandum andindicatingdevice, the combination with a cabinet or case, of a lid slidably mounted thereon, a cogged rack rigidly attached to the lid, a message-stripoperating roll, a gear loose on said roll, a connection between the gear and the roll whereby as the lid is moved in one direction the roll is actuated, and when the lid is moved in the opposite direction the roll remains idle, an indicating device, and means operated by the gear for actuating the indicating device when the lid is moved in the direction oppositethat which actuates the message-strip-operating roll, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a case, of a lid slidably mounted thereon, a supply-roll inclosed by the case, a main strip-operating roll, a tension-roll cooperating with the main roll, a gear-wheel loose on the spindle of the main roll, a dog carried by said gear, a ratchetwheel fast on the spindle of the main roll and arranged to be engaged by the dog carried by the gear, a cogged rack rigidly connected with the lid and engaging the gear, whereby as the lid is moved in one direction the strip-operating roll is actuated, means for locking the strip-operating roll from movement when the lid is moved in the opposite direction, an indicator, and means actuated by the gear for operating the indicator while the roll remains idle, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES D. lVEAVERi 

